On
Oct. 2, 1881, a small group of men met in the basement of St. Mary’s
Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. Called together by
their 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, these men formed
a fraternal society that would one day become the world’s largest
Catholic family fraternal service organization.

They
sought strength in solidarity, and security through unity of purpose and
devotion to a holy cause: they vowed to be defenders of their country, their
families and their faith.

These
men were bound together by the ideal of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer
of the Americas, the one whose hand brought Christianity to the New World.
Their efforts came to fruition with the incorporation of the Knights of
Columbus on March 29, 1882.